Pop can shove small ball up his a--

[T Park]

I think it could have been over in 4 or 5. The only experience the Lakers have are Fisher and Kobe. Odom's psyche will crumble at the first sign of trouble, and Gasol is still a Grizzly at heart. And like timvp said, Kobe-led camaraderie is a big Hollywood facade that's likely to disappear when the going gets tough.

Having said that, if by some miracle Bruce can repeat his performance in Game 2, and Pop has learned from his mistakes, that would be the Spurs best shot at pulling this out.

Agreed. I'm holding out hope Mike Bud gave him a V-8 esque bitch slap to the forehead in the game film session.

[timvp]

:lol Ok now you're just exagerating. No way Phil Jackon or Kobe would allow a sweep or this series to be over in 5. Momentum can change very quickly as we've seen this postseason. This was a huge loss by the Spurs and I think the fact that they let a big game slip from them may hurt them later on. But I don't think this series would have been over in 4 or 5 had they won.Nah I'm being serious. If the Spurs blowout the Lakers in Game 1, they are the exact type of team that will fold tent. They know they don't even have their second or third best player healthy. They know that they have a bright future. Kobe is still emerging as a leader but he's not all the way there yet. Lakers get owned in Game 1 and the Spurs cruise to a series victory as the Lakers look ahead to next year.

Now ... who knows? If the Spurs didn't have to play every other day I'd still be pretty damn confident. But with the team tired and Manu gimpy, it's another uphill challenge.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

i noticed my first grey hair this morning when i was getting ready for work

there is no doubt in my mind after this game i will have two more tomorrow morning.
gosh this is so terrible, no catharsis, no closure, just a terrible terrible foreboding that the end is near, this terrible terrible marriottspurfan realization springing up from the collective spurfan unconscious that Bowen is the True Chosen One, and when he puts up more than he ever has, dribbling and taking 2 pt shot after 2 pt shot, nailing threes, denying kobe, contesting kobe....and we still lose....how many performances are there like this left?

How many more performances like this can The Chosen One give us?

Bowen, no matter what ever happens for the rest of spurs history, you are from this moment onward always to be remembered by me as the most bad ass fearsome player to ever wear a spurs uniform.
I'll never forget this night in spurs history. Never.

[T Park]

Watch the end of the 05 Finals...


The split second the clock stops Pop makes a beeline for Larry Brown...and Bruce Bowen is right behind him...it reminded me of a son following his father to work for the first time.

I'm not disagreeing with you.

Pop, Bowen, Duncan, Parker.

They are inseparable.


I'm just saying, I've seen Bowen and Pop go at it pretty hot and heavy on the bench before.

[whottt]

And you know...this just might be Bruce's best playoff run, it seems like he's finally added a pretty decent offensive game. His offense has been pretty good after the Suns series...

[Trainwreck2100]

i noticed my first grey hair this morning when i was getting ready for work

there is no doubt in my mind after this game i will have two more tomorrow morning.
gosh this is so terrible, no catharsis, no closure, just a terrible terrible foreboding that the end is near, this terrible terrible marriottspurfan realization springing up from the collective spurfan unconscious that Bowen is the True Chosen One, and when he puts up more than he ever has, dribbling and taking 2 pt shot after 2 pt shot, nailing threes, denying kobe, contesting kobe....and we still lose....how many performances are there like this left?

How many more performances like this can The Chosen One give us?

Bowen, no matter what ever happens for the rest of spurs history, you are from this moment onward always to be remembered by me as the most bad ass fearsome player to ever wear a spurs uniform.
I'll never forget this night in spurs history. Never.
I think i/m getting a ulcer myself

[ShoogarBear]

Gray Hair Emo?

Ulcer Emo?

Pussies.

[T Park]

And you know...this just might be Bruce's best playoff run, it seems like he's finally added a pretty decent offensive game. His offense has been pretty good after the Suns series...

I agree. especially after last year when we thought THAT was his best run after his defense against Lebron and company.

[T Park]

i noticed my first grey hair this morning when i was getting ready for work

Welcome to the fuckin club... :pctoss

[1Parker1]

Nah I'm being serious. If the Spurs blowout the Lakers in Game 1, they are the exact type of team that will fold tent. They know they don't even have their second or third best player healthy. They know that they have a bright future. Kobe is still emerging as a leader but he's not all the way there yet. Lakers get owned in Game 1 and the Spurs cruise to a series victory as the Lakers look ahead to next year.

Now ... who knows? If the Spurs didn't have to play every other day I'd still be pretty damn confident. But with the team tired and Manu gimpy, it's another uphill challenge.

Well, you sort of had to know this wasn't going to be a blowout and the Lakers (i.e Kobe would make a run at some point).

The Spurs for all their experience are very predictable this postseason. These offensive droughts when they're up by 5 or 6 points is now becoming so common that opposing teams should just expect it and wait for it to come. Not only that, but their defense seems to go the way of their offense when their shots aren't falling. Bruce Bowen or no Bruce Bowen, you're not going to win many games when you can't score a field goal for an 8 minute stretch in the 3rd/4th quarter.

Lost tonight was the fact that Duncan actually had an amazing defensive game as well. He protected the paint and altered many of Gasol/Odom's easy shots.

[Trainwreck2100]

Gray Hair Emo?

Ulcer Emo?

Pussies.

I'm not exaggerating, my tummy hurts

[SPARKY]

Fuck man, the Spurs just gutted through two elimination games against an opponent who appeared to have their number. Yes, the Spurs blew a golden opportunity. But they live to fight another day.

[T Park]

Lost tonight was the fact that Duncan actually had an amazing defensive game as well. He protected the paint and altered many of Gasol/Odom's easy shots.

On top of a 30 some odd 20 rebound performance, playoff Duncan was on full show tonight.

I'm saying a little prayer right now, hoping Duncan brings the same game for game 2.

if he does, and Parker and Ginobili can raise their games and be better, than this things coming back even for games 3 and 4.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

sparky it doesn't work that way

we have to play every-other-fucking-day for the rest of this series, no matter how many games this series takes.

we're in a worse spot than we were after game 2 of the NO series.

[DazedAndConfused]

You guys are idiots. Pop can't afford to play Bowen 48 minutes a game, the bench players have to step it up. This is a marathon, not a sprint and you do a great disservice to the guy who is supposed to take over Bruce's role when you put absolutely no faith in him. There is a method to the madness of Pop and Phil Jackson, they know what they are doing.

[ShoogarBear]

What would Shane Battier have done?

[SPARKY]

You guys are idiots. Pop can't afford to play Bowen 48 minutes a game, the bench players have to step it up. This is a marathon, not a sprint and you do a great disservice to the guy who is supposed to take over Bruce's role when you put absolutely no faith in him. There is a method to the madness of Pop and Phil Jackson, they know what they are doing.

This clown's 15 minutes are up.

[T Park]

You guys are idiots. Pop can't afford to play Bowen 48 minutes a game, the bench players have to step it up. This is a marathon, not a sprint and you do a great disservice to the guy who is supposed to take over Bruce's role when you put absolutely no faith in him. There is a method to the madness of Pop and Phil Jackson, they know what they are doing.

No ones saying 48 minutes.

but pulling him when he did, for as long as he did lost the game.


Why I'm responding to this I don't know, you showed your ignorance earlier today when you said "Kirilenko and Kenyon Martin are good defenders"

[T Park]

What would Shane Battier have done?

Made a couple stupid fouls on the three point line igniting the run quicker?

[timvp]

You guys are idiots. Pop can't afford to play Bowen 48 minutes a game, the bench players have to step it up. This is a marathon, not a sprint and you do a great disservice to the guy who is supposed to take over Bruce's role when you put absolutely no faith in him. There is a method to the madness of Pop and Phil Jackson, they know what they are doing.Pop got worried about foul trouble when he wasn't in position to worry. The game was almost over.

There was no method. It was just a dumb move ... perhaps motivated by trying to outcoach the one guy who has had his number over the years.

[T Park]

Pop got worried about foul trouble when he wasn't in position to worry. The game was almost over.

There was no method. It was just a dumb move ... perhaps motivated by trying to outcoach the one guy who has had his number over the years.

Yeah the old ego got in the way with this one.

[SPARKY]

sparky it doesn't work that way

we have to play every-other-fucking-day for the rest of this series, no matter how many games this series takes.

we're in a worse spot than we were after game 2 of the NO series.

The Spurs were in a worse spot getting run out of the building 3 times on the road. Pop knows what not to do now.

[timvp]

Fuck man, the Spurs just gutted through two elimination games against an opponent who appeared to have their number. Yes, the Spurs blew a golden opportunity. But they live to fight another day.:tu

On this note I will go look for some alcohol.

[Kori Ellis]

:tu

On this note I will go look for some alcohol.

There's four unopened bottles of vodka in the freezer.

[T Park]

I'm gonna keep the ol spirits up, cause usually when Sparky is this confident, that means good things.

Hopefully Timvp's confidence comes back :lol

[T Park]

There's four unopened bottles of vodka in the freezer.

"Vodka, the sure sign of a hardcore alchoholic" - the mother from only the lonely

[E20]

There's four unopened bottles of vodka in the freezer.
Why not just tell him in reality instead of in a message board. It will be faster and you will save bandwith.

[Kori Ellis]

Why not just tell him in reality than in a message board. It will be faster and you will save bandwith.

Maybe I'm not home.

[beachwood]

Small ball killed us. I just can't believe Bowen was sitting on the bench when Kobe started getting hot. What the fuck? Small doesn't work when Finley is laying bricks. Can't believe i'm saying this but, where the fuck was Oberto? he played well in the 1st half. Can't leave Duncan out there to rebound on his own.

[ShoogarBear]

I'm gonna keep the ol spirits up, cause usually when Sparky is this confident, that means good things.

It means he's juiced.

[baseline bum]

There's four unopened bottles of vodka in the freezer.

This loss calls for Everclear.

[T Park]

It means he's juiced.

Damn't shoog... :depressed



Maybe I'm not home.

Cue someone taking that wrong :lol

[SPARKY]

What would Shane Battier have done?

ROFL. A glory seeking insecure bitch who's really a Rockets fan? Awesome.

[T Park]

This loss calls for Everclear.

Hookers and blow Baseline.

Im in so cal, whatta ya say.

[E20]

Maybe I'm not home.
:rollseye

The old I'm-not-home-,-so-I'll-tell-him-over-the-internet, line......weak

[SPARKY]

It means he's juiced.

Almost, Doc. If the last series didn't fortify the basketball soul, I don't know what would.

[baseline bum]

Hookers and blow Baseline.

Im in so cal, whatta ya say.

I'm in Texas. Otherwise I'd drive Manu to the border myself and pick him up a slumpbuster.... Pop too.

[Kori Ellis]

:rollseye

The old I'm-not-home-,-so-I'll-tell-him-over-the-internet, line......weak

The old "I don't know how to spell rolleyes line."

[T Park]

I'm in Texas. Otherwise I'd drive Manu to the border myself and pick him up a slumpbuster.... Pop too.


I'll be back tommarrow afternoon.

We'll hit up SAs finest after game 2.

[E20]

The old "I don't know how to spell rolleyes line."

I spell it wrong on purpose. :sleep

[ata]

i saw loads and loads of vaughn... i cant believe that unless i they were out there at the same time.

Check this out:
http://www.popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20080521&game=SASLAL

[Blackjack]

I dont give a shit what Pop says, that team ran out of gas. They stopped driving the ball and settled for jumpers. The jumpers they took were short or well off the mark. The ball movement and decision making was fucking terrible in the second half. All of which can be signs of fatigue.

It looked like when they went up by 20 they exhaled for a moment, and lost the edge/ adrenaline they were playing with. Compound that with taking Bruce out, and it just seemed to snowball.

With the way Manu looks physically, and the way the schedule is layed out... The Spurs need game 2, like Joboo needs his rum!

[odogg726]

Hahaha, this thread's fuckin' hilarious, I love it.

Y'all act like if Bowen was solely responsible for Kobe taking only 3 fg attempts in the first half. Your team needs to understand something: there's nobody on your team that can stop Kobe, period. You keep blaming Pops for fucking the game up, but the fact is if Kobe would have came out aggressive from the jump instead of toying with you guys in the first half, I highly doubt you would have ever gone up by 20.

Just let it go, move on, and hope Kobe gives you guys another 2 quarters off to start game 2 before he starts dismantling your defense piece by piece.

[jackseven]

The Spurs wasted:

30-18-4 from Tim Duncan
Shutting down Fisher & Lamar Odom
A chance to end this series in 6 or less
Surprising the Lakers with their level of play

It all comes down to the Pop move.

Spurs were up by 20 mid third quarter and Kobe had done his little act where he pretends he doesn't want to shoot and had only 1 or 2 baskets. Everybody on the planet knew Kobe was going to start shooting every shot. Kobe can live with losing, but he can't live with scoring less than 20 points. He's a stat sheet freak.

Why at this point Gregg Popovich takes off his best defender and then gives Kobe single coverage is beyond comprehension.

Knowing that Kobe was going to try to win the game and the Lakers couldn't win if he didn't go wild and score something like 25 points in the second half, I would have even started double teaming Kobe. Instead, Pop not only didn't stay pat with what got the Spurs +20, he downgraded his defense.

The Finley hate is just that. Finley was playing bad before the Spurs lost their 20 point lead so it wasn't him that caused the downfall. The 4th quarter would never have happened if Pop would have just left things the way they were.

The Spurs would have probably ended up cruising to a 12 point when and Pop could have ended up saving Duncan and Parker then. I can't tell how tired the players actually are, but I think Pop gets way too conservative with their minutes at points of the game where if they're not hyperventilating they should be out there. If there's anybody he should have given extended rest to, it was Manu. Manu was obviously off tonight as the game wore on and was making really bad passes even for him.

The good news is is this loss is all Pop's fault and when the Spurs look at this tape, they'll know they can beat this team. The Lakers have been looking great, but they've also been accustomed to playing lower caliber teams.

The Jazz and the Nuggets were byes compared to the Suns and the Hornets.

I think this factor was obvious as the Lakers looked stunned to be facing an opponent they couldn't beat with ball rotation.

Also on the bright side, Duncan carried the team and showed Pau Gasol nor anyone else on the Lakers is going to slow him down.

I'm not sure if Manu was hurting or what, but this game should also hammer home that Manu is not good at guarding taller/heavier players.

The Spurs need to sleep 14 hours tonight, then watch some film and I think they can atone for this loss and take 2 in LA.

I'd like to see more Brent Barry next game and if Manu can regain some of his form, the Spurs should be in good shape. It was really encouraging to see that the Spurs were running Derek Fisher off the 3's and bottling Lamar Odom. I think they should keep a body on Gasol at all times. Rotating off him is similar to leaving Chandler in that you may be conceeding easier points. I think almost every point for Gasol came in the paint so I would assign Oberto to just face guard him at 9 feet.

I'll take LA in this series.

PS If you ever see Doug Collins don't let him know you have a nickname.

[beachwood]

If we play small ball for extended periods of time, we will lose this series. I still can't believe we lost this game. Why why why was Bowen on the bench for so long???? WHY??? Its no coincidence Kobe goes off as soon as Bowen is taken out.

And why the hell is Finley getting minutes while Barry rots on the bench? Give Barry a chance. There's no way he can do any worse than Finley.

[beachwood]

Hahaha, this thread's fuckin' hilarious, I love it.

Y'all act like if Bowen was solely responsible for Kobe taking only 3 fg attempts in the first half. Your team needs to understand something: there's nobody on your team that can stop Kobe, period. You keep blaming Pops for fucking the game up, but the fact is if Kobe would have came out aggressive from the jump instead of toying with you guys in the first half, I highly doubt you would have ever gone up by 20.

Just let it go, move on, and hope Kobe gives you guys another 2 quarters off to start game 2 before he starts dismantling your defense piece by piece.

Hey, you're a douche.

[odogg726]

Hey, you're a douche.


Real smart arguement you got there. Then again, you are a Spurs fan, so....

[Capt Bringdown]

Everybody on the planet knew Kobe was going to start shooting every shot. Kobe can live with losing, but he can't live with scoring less than 20 points. He's a stat sheet freak.


That's actually a very good point, although I don't think Kobe was motivated by the stat sheet.

The Lakers were simply going to go with their best player, the league MVP, in an all out blitz to try to win the game. Who couldn't see this coming? Especially after he starting hitting shots right and left?

You don't take your best defender out in that stretch (crunch time). In fact, this is what you should be preparing for all game.

[Soul_Patch]

Im fucking disgusted after watchign that game, particularly that third quarter.


1. Why the FUCK do you bench bowen after he had completely taken Kobe out of the game. Let that shit ride till the end of the third.

2. Why the FUCK do you leave Manu in the game at such a crucial time when the guy is doing nothing on defense and even less on offense. Many was responsible for a good portion of their come back.


god damnit that made me so mad.

[wildchild]

I don't have a problem with small ball 'cause many times worked, but if Mike didn't score (0 points) Brent so so, and Fab and Robert were playing well, I prefer Fab in the court or Robert.
At least more rebounds and defense even a couple of points and good passes with Fab, than Mike in a bad night.

[Anti.Hero]

Hahaha, this thread's fuckin' hilarious, I love it.

Y'all act like if Bowen was solely responsible for Kobe taking only 3 fg attempts in the first half. Your team needs to understand something: there's nobody on your team that can stop Kobe, period. You keep blaming Pops for fucking the game up, but the fact is if Kobe would have came out aggressive from the jump instead of toying with you guys in the first half, I highly doubt you would have ever gone up by 20.

Just let it go, move on, and hope Kobe gives you guys another 2 quarters off to start game 2 before he starts dismantling your defense piece by piece.

Bowen did a great job on Kobe. Watch the game again with open eyes.

[urunobili]

he should have played Oberto more...

[SnakeBoy]

Do you have a reading comprehension problem. No one is given up or saying to fire Pop. They are just discussing his errors in this particular game. If you don't want to participate, move on to another thread.

My reading comprehension is fine.

Bruce Bowen, 37 years old, has averaged 28.6 minutes per game in the playoffs. Played 35 minutes last night.

Spurs go 3 for 21 in the fourth.

Reason for loss: Pop didn't play Bowen more.

Yeah that makes sense.

[The Truth #6]

Kobe was going to get off even with Bowen still out there. However, that's no excuse not to put Bowen right back in there when it became clear to everyone but Pop that Kobe was going to take over the game by himself. Who knows if putting in Bowen would have helped but it was the obvious move to make yet we waited way too long.

I think Pop figured they would make a run and wanted to save Bowen for the 4th, however by the time Bowen came back the Spurs had already collapsed.

And yeah, Finley on Odom makes a strong case for his retirement at the end of the season.

Having said all that, I still think NO was a worse matchup for us. We can still recover. If we had won the first game we would have blown the second game. No way we win both. Now we have to win the second.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

My reading comprehension is fine.

Bruce Bowen, 37 years old, has averaged 28.6 minutes per game in the playoffs. Played 35 minutes last night.

Spurs go 3 for 21 in the fourth.

Reason for loss: Pop didn't play Bowen more.

Yeah that makes sense.

The problem is, for 8 very critical minutes in the third and start of the fourth, Bowen wasn't out there. And if he would have been, LA never makes it comeback, Phil pulls his starters with a couple of minutes to go down 18-20 still, and Bowen gets that time to rest as well.

And now you're up 1-0 having played one game on your opponent's floor.

[SnakeBoy]

Your assuming that Kobe wouldn't have been able to score on Bowen. I don't buy that at all.

What is not an assumption is that if someone, anyone would have stepped up and made just a few shots the game would have been won. I don't see how it's Pops fault. Shoot 14% in the 4th and we'll lose everytime.

By your logic, if the Spurs lose and Pop didn't play Bowen 48 minutes then it's mistake by Pop. Let me ask you when is a better time to try and give a 37 year old guy some rest? Up by 20 seems like a good time to me.

[SnakeBoy]

I should also add that yeah the loss sucked but I really wasn't too upset about it. If the Spurs can keep the games at that pace the Lakers are finished. I don't care what the national media guys try to say. They jump at any opportunity to suck Laker dick.